Well Needed Shore Leave
by I'mJustTired
Summary: The defiant has just finished a long assignment and everybody needs a break. Is the planet they find just too good to be true?
1. Chapter 1

Julian yawned as he walked into sickbay. He had another medical report he was supposed to write up but he couldn't concentrate. He hadn't had a decent sleep for days. The Defiant had been on patrol for over two months now without putting in at any stations and with barely any contact from the outside world. The whole ship was exhausted and needed a break. Julian sighed as he flopped into a chair and put the PADD down in front of him. He started writing but only got a few sentences before his eyes started to droop. All he needed was five minutes sleep...

Julian was woken abruptly by someone shaking him. His head snapped up from the desk to see Dax standing next to him.  
'Julian, I've been trying to get hold of you for five minutes! You weren't answering your combadge; I was getting worried'  
Julian groaned and ran his fingers through his tangled hair. 'Sorry, Jadzia, I just fell asleep...' He trailed off. She pulled up a chair and straddled it. 'Don't worry about it, the whole crew is exhausted' she sighed. 'We need a break from these endless patrols.' She stood up and offered a hand to Julian. 'Come on, we need you on the bridge'.

A few more days of the same patrols passed with Klingon opera playing to keep everyone awake. One morning when everyone was starting to wonder if Starfleet had forgotten about then, Benjamin came out of the ready room with a big grin on his face. He sat down in the captain's chair and pressed his combadge. 'This is Captain Sisko with a crew announcement. Good news everybody: In 4 hours the Lexington will be here to take up our patrols.' A cheer went up on the bridge. 'Starfleet has decided we have been on the border long enough and we need some well deserved shore leave. Sisko out'. There were general sighs of relief and Bashir announced 'I don't know what you're going to do for the next 4 hours, but I'm going to bed'.

Once the Lexington had arrived, the senior officers sat down to decide where they would take their shore leave. 'Well,' said Sisko, 'I'm open to suggestions'. 'What about Pacifica?' suggested Kira. O'Brien chipped in 'I dunno, the Pacificans might be a bit worried about a heavily armed Starship suddenly turning up'. The other officers came up with more suggestions but they couldn't seem to agree. Eventually, Sisko suggested 'How about that planet the Xanthe made a report on a few months ago? It hasn't been explored much but all they found was a variety of plant and animal life. Completely uninhabited'. This sold it for the others officers and within an hour they were on course to their unexplored shore leave destination. 'So what's this planet like then?' asked Bashir. 'Well, the Xanthe didn't have much to report' replied Sisko. 'Just that they couldn't detect any other alien life signs, apart from a few animals. It's all tall trees and green grass'. 'Sounds perfect' sighed Dax. 'Personally I don't understand the human need to 'rest' by running up and down and frolicking about' said Odo, standing arms crossed again wall. 'For me, resting is just that; stopping activity'. 'Well I'm not human and I can certainly see the appeal of spending a few days on a peaceful planet without duties and patrols' said Dax.  
'We've arrived at the planet, sir' announced the Chief. 'Slow to impulse' commanded Sisko. 'Dax, Bashir, O'Brien; you're with me. We'll conduct a primary check of the planet and then we'll start sending parties down. Mr Worf, you have the bridge'. Worf nodded and sat down in the captain's chair as the landing party walked into the turbolift.

As the officers materialised on the planet, they were taken aback at how quiet it was. They couldn't see any form of animal or birds anywhere. Dax scanned around, frowning at her tricorder. 'Captain, I'm not registering any types of animal life.'Perhaps they were wiped out by a natural disaster?' suggested Julian, also scanning around. 'Hey, my tricorder's not working'. 'Give it here' said O'Brien. He stared at the screen. There was jut static. Julian took back tge tricorder and shook it. 'Mines out too' said Dax frustratedly. She closed and reopened it as the Chief prized the back off Julian's tricorder. 'There's nothing wrong with the circuits' he told them, peering inside. 'There must be some kind of interference. Benjamin frowned. He tapped his combadge. 'Sisko to Defiant'. Worf's voice came through but it was crackly and they could barely hear him. 'Mr Worf, there's some kind of interference messin with out tricorder's and communication. Beam us up'. 'Sorry, Captain,' Worf's voice crackled through, 'Our transporters are too unstable for more than one transport. Whatever is stopping your tricorders must be affecting us too. We have started to-'. The line crackled then went dead. 'Damn!' exclaimed Sisko. Dax sighed and put her tricorder back on her belt. 'I guess we should split up and try to find whatever's causing the interference?'. 'You got it' said Sisko. 'Chief; you stay with me. Dax and Bashir-' Sisko trailed off as a figure started beaming down next to them. 'Who's that?' asked Bashir. The pattern started to flicker. 'I'm not sure but they're having trouble' observed Dax. After a few more flickers, the pattern solidified and Kira practically fell out of the beam towards them. O'Brien caught her by the shoulders. 'I thought Mr Worf said no-one could use the transporters safely?' questioned Sisko. Kira straightened up. 'Worf did that, but doesn't mean they aren't operational. I can assure you, it was a bumpy ride'. She straightened out her uniform. 'I figured you could use some extra help'. Sisko let out a little sigh. 'Well I guess you're here now whether we like it or not. We all are until we can find whatever's interfering with our equipment. Kira; you go with Bashir, Chief; you're with me. Sorry, old man, you're on your own'. Dax smiled. 'That just means I'm the most responsible I guess. Rendezvous here in 30 minute?'. With that they split up and headed in different directions; Sisko and O'Brien away through the trees, Kira towards the nearby lake with Julian following, and Dax whichever way the others weren't going.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys (anyone who's reading this) thanks for reading my story. I might have forgotten to do all this stuff in chapter 1… so I'm doing it now. Also sorry for the spelling, grammar and general mistakes in chapter 1. I may have forgotten to spell check… (Sorry I'm lazy and iPods have no spell check)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Trek; if I did this story would've been made into an episode. And Wesley Crusher would never have happened.

This chapter is just a quickie to make up for the long, rambling prologue-type first chapter. Reviews are much appreciated :)

'This is ridiculous', complained Kira. 'I mean, how can we possibly find whatever's interfering with our equipment? We don't even know what it looks like, if there is anything. It could just be something in the atmosphere'. She stomped through the long grass, Julian hurrying behind her trying to keep up. 'Well actually, it's unlikely it's anything in the atmosphere because it would have prevented you beaming…' he trailed off as Kira gave him a withering look. She paused for a minute then stomped off again. 'Could you… possibly… slow down a bit?' Julian panted, running after her. 'My boots are full of burs'. Kira sighed but changed her direction towards the trees.

She went up to a tree and sat down at the base of it. 'Thank you' said Julian as he sat down by the tree. He pulled off his left boot and threw it a little way away towards the grass. 'Honestly, on a planet as beautiful as this, you would imagine the plants had less annoying ways of pollinating' complained Bashir, picking burs off his socks. 'Oh it's not that bad' said Kira. 'At least it's not thundering. Or… infested with voles or something'. Julian pulled off his other boot and picked out the burs. 'I guess so. We better get going. We're due at the rendezvous soon'. Julian pulled his boot back on and walked over to where he'd thrown the other one. 'Nerys?' Julian said, looking around, 'have you taken my boot?' 'No, why?' she replied, joining him over at the edge of the grass. 'Well I threw it just over here but I can't see it anywhere'. Kira frowned. 'Well it must be around here somewhere. Maybe you threw it into the grass'. Julian knelt down and stuck his hand into the grass, feeling around. 'It doesn't seem to be- OW!' Julian pulled his hand away and jumped backwards. He sat, staring at his hand. 'You're bleeding!' exclaimed Kira. She knelt down and stared at Julian's hand. 'Something… bit me' said Julian, shakily. He winced and wiped the blood off on his uniform. 'Bit you?' Kira's eyes widened in disbelievement. 'What could've bitten you?' Suddenly, a rustling came from the grass followed by a squeaking sound. 'That sounded like…' Kira stopped mid-sentence as a scream filled the air.

'JULIAN!'


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek, it owns me

This is gonna be short because of the cliff-hanger soooo... Just to say I'm gonna change now so I write shorter chapters but get them up every couple of days (ish). Enjoy!

'DAX!' yelled Julian. He sprang up and sprinted off, one-booted, towards the source of the scream. Kira quickly ran after him. She was now the one trying to keep up as he pelted through the trees. She heard a noise and looked over her shoulder to see Sisko and O'Brien following them. She turned back and saw Julian a little way off. He had reached a small clearing and was looking around wildly. 'Dax!' he shouted. 'DAX!' They heard another scream, closer this time, followed by several voices shouting and the sound of blows. Julian started running off but the noise started to move. More shouting, this time to the left, then in front of them, then back the way they came. They tried to follow it but by the time they thought they were on track, it had moved again. Suddenly the shouting stopped and the trees became eerily quiet. They froze, panting, listening intently. Nothing. After a few seconds it became too much to bear. 'DAX!' screamed Bashir. He looked around for any indication, any rustling, anything to follow. 'DAX!' 'Dr Bashir!' hissed Sisko, willing him to be quiet. 'Commander, Dax is in trouble, we have to try to find her. DAAAX!' 'Julian!' Kira jumped on him and covered his mouth with her hand from behind. He whimpered but stayed quiet. There was no sound. It was as if nothing had happened. After a few minutes, Kira sighed and took her hand away. Julian slumped down at the base of a tree. 'She's gone' he choked out, 'She's gone and we have no idea how or why'. 'I thought you said we were the only ones here' Kira said to Sisko accusingly. 'That's what the report said, I don't understand it' replied Sisko. Miles knelt next to Julian. 'Julian,' he said, putting his hand on Bashir's shoulder, 'you know we won't leave here without Dax. We'll cover every inch of this planet on foot if we have to'. Julian sighed. 'I know'. Suddenly, Kira gasped. 'Julian, what happened to your foot?' At this, the pain from Julian's foot suddenly registered. He groaned and lifted his foot to examine it. The sole of his foot was zigzagged with cuts. He looked back the way they had come and saw drops of blood on the dusty ground near the edge of the trees. He groaned again. 'That looks nasty' said Sisko 'Where's your medkit?' Julian looked around before realising he'd left it back where he'd lost his boot. He ripped off one of his sleeves and started wrapping it around his foot as he briefly explained how he had lost his boot and been bitten by something in the grass. 'But the strange part,' he told them as he tied off the make-shift bandage, 'was that it felt like a vole bite.' 'I thought voles came from Cardassia?' said Kira. 'Exactly!' exclaimed Bashir, 'and the Cardassians have never visited this planet! And the even stranger part, is that I was just talking about voles with Kira' 'Well maybe it wasn't a vole' suggested O'Brien. 'It's quite difficult to tell animals apart just by their bite' Julian sighed. 'Maybe. Anyway, our priority now is finding Dax' Julian pushed himself up, leaning on the tree he was sitting by. 'Right. Let's head back to that clearing. There might be something for us to follow' With Julian leaning on O'Brien's shoulder, they made their way back the way they came.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this chapter's taken so much longer than I said; I've been so busy recently. Also, I know I've promised some Julian whump (it will come!) but I thought I should do some Dax POV.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek, it owns me

The first thing Dax registered as she woke was she was moving. Or, more likely, being moved as, from the headache she had, she doubted she could be moving herself. She opened her eyes a crack and realised she was facing upwards. Someone was carrying her. Weakly, she tried to look around and see where she was. At this, her unknown carrier seemed to realise she was awake and dropped her with a shout. She hit the ground on her back and cried out in pain. Head spinning, she rolled herself over and tried to push herself up with one hand. She looked around dizzily and saw three figures wearing long, black cloaks. This triggered a vague memory in her but she couldn't put her finger on what. One of them came striding towards her, pulling out a phaser. Before she could protest, the figure smashed the phaser into the side of her head and her world went black.

Walking on the edge of the treeline, the away team realised that it had started to rain. As they retraced their steps, it got heavier and they heard the distant rumble of thunder in the distance. 'Julian,' said Kira 'weren't you also talking about thunder when you mentioned voles earlier?' 'As a matter of fact, I think I did' replied Julian, stumbling over a fallen branch for the hundredth time. He sighed frustratedly as Miles pulled him up. 'Something strange is going on here' growled Sisko. 'It can't just be a coincidence that every time we think of something it seems to happen.'

By the time they had walked for five minutes, the rain was torrential. Even their specially designed, all climates Starfleet uniforms were soaked through and they were freezing. 'So much for our plan of finding something to follow' chattered out O'Brien. 'Any tracks will have been washed away by now'. 'Along with everything else' added Kira. 'What's plan B?' Bashir asked Sisko. 'We should find shelter until the rain calms down and everyone; try to stick together'. With that they headed into the trees. Under the trees it was just as cold but a little dryer as some of the rain was stopped by the leaves above them. Eventually they came to a large tree with branches long enough that the ground around the base was mainly dry. They sat down, leaning on the trunk.

They sat in silence for a while, letting the water drip off them. The only sound was the rain pouring through the trees. Eventually Kira broke the silence. 'Benjamin?' she asked quietly. 'Do you think there is something blocking our transporters? At first it seemed unlikely, but what if it is just the atmosphere? We could be stuck here. And even if we do find something, what about Dax?'. Sisko hesitated 'I don't know, Kira, but until we've gone over this planet inch by inch, I'm not going to give up. And you shouldn't be either. Whatever happened to Dax, she must be nearby and we won't leave here without her' Kira sighed and nodded. They fell back into silence. The chief fiddled with his tricorder. Julian re-tied his bandage. The rain kept pouring. Suddenly, Julian's head whipped up. 'Did you hear that?' he whispered. 'Hear what?' Kira hissed back. 'We don't all have your super-sonic hearing'. 'There it is again!' said Julian. He jumped up. Kira started to question again but he shushed her. A moment passed. Julian started to move away. Sisko jumped up and grabbed him by the shoulder. 'Doctor…' he said warningly. 'But I heard something. It sounded like voices'. They all stayed completely still, straining to hear the noise that only Julian could hear. Suddenly Julian gasped. 'Dax!' he called. He pulled himself away from Sisko and started running, his injured foot forgotten. 'DOCTOR BASHIR!' Sisko bellowed after him. The others jumped up. They ran in the direction he'd gone but he was already out of sight in the thick forest. Kira tried to keep running but Sisko stopped her. 'It's no use' he said. 'He's gone'


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek blahblahblah

I'm so sorry this chapter has taken soooo looooong, but I've been on holiday so I've been really busy. I hope to get a few chapters up this week though J

Soooo Julian's run off alone, Dax has been kidnapped and the remaining away team can't be too happy. I will continue… hope you enjoy!...

Julian didn't know how long or far he kept running, he just had to find Dax. Every time it seemed the noises had stopped, every time he tried to stop for a break, there would be another shout or footsteps or he would catch a glimpse of something moving. He ran out of the trees and kept running towards the rockier ground. He only eventually stopped because he couldn't run any more. He sat on a nearby rock, trying to ignore the pain from his foot, panting. It all seemed so ridiculous to him. They beam down to a supposedly uninhabited planet, which in fact turns out to be populated by voles and kidnappers. It seemed more like one of his holodeck fantasies than real life. He half expected Dax to suddenly turn up with her Honey Bare lab coat and glasses. Or…

'Doctor!'

Julian spun around and his mouth dropped open at what he saw.

'GARAK?!'

There, standing in front of him, was Garak with his usual sly grin on his face. 'Hello, Doctor' he smiled, 'Aren't you pleased to see me?'. 'Garak what the hell are you doing here?' almost shouted the Doctor. 'How did you even get here?'. Garak moved closer to him. 'Well, Doctor, it is certainly a very long story'. Julian was having a hard time comprehending this. Garak wasn't even on the Defiant, he didn't even know they had gone on shore leave. 'Garak, do you know what's happening here?' 'Ah…' Garak gave him a knowing smile. 'Doctor', he tutted, 'So many questions. I'm only here to enjoy your company. It seems, however, that you are not in the mood'. He started walking away from Julian. Julian followed after him purposefully. 'Garak I'm sick of your lies! For once just tell me the truth! If you know anything about what's happened to Dax, tell me!' Garak carried on walking. 'Garak are you listening to me?' he said, grabbing his shoulder. At this, Garak swung round and smacked Julian hard in the face. Julian gave a yell and staggered backwards. He tripped over a rock and landed on the ground. He looked up in shock, putting a hand to his face, but Garak was no-where to be seen. He stood up and looked around. 'Garak?' he shouted.

'Up here, Doctor!'. Julian spun around to see Garak sitting on a ledge 30 feet away up the rocky landscape. 'Garak, come back here!'. 'Oh no, Doctor,' Garak laughed, 'I'm afraid you will have to come to me'. With that he jumped up and disappeared over the other side of the rock. Julian ran after him. He arrived over the other side and looked around. Again, Garak was nowhere to be seen. 'Over here, Doctor!'. Garak was crouching a little way away on top of a shelf of rock. 'How can he be moving so fast?' wondered Julian. He made his way over to him. 'Garak, for once I want some truths. If you know anything then just tell me'. Garak sighed. 'OK then, Doctor,' he straightened up. 'I _will_ tell you'. With that, Garak launched himself from the rock onto Julian. Julian fell to the floor with a cry and Garak landed on top of him, knocking the wind out of him. 'Garak…' coughed Julian, 'what are you doing…'. Garak cut him off by putting his hands to Julian's throat. He started choking him. Julian squeaked and tried to pull his hands off but Garak seemed to have suddenly got a lot stronger. Garak laughed at his feeble attempt. 'If you want to fight me you're going to have to do better than that.' 'I don't want to fight you-' whispered Julian but he was cut off as Garak tightened his grip. 'Well, Doctor, I do, so I suggest you start fighting' he whispered back manically. He's lost his mind thought Julian. He tried to pull away but his oxygen had run out and his ability to think was fading. 'FIGHT ME, DOCTOR!' shouted Garak. With an immense effort, Julian managed to roll to the side, tipping Garak off him. He pulled himself backwards on his elbows away from Garak. As he gasped in air he realised he would have to fight Garak whether he liked it or not.


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek, yup, you know, good, done.

OK I realise there's now three different situations (Dax is kidnapped, Kira, Sisko and O'Brien are left at the tree and there's Julian v Garak) and a lot unexplained. I have so many ideas, I'm just cramming them all in. Just bear with me, I'll get through them in the next few chapters. This is a really short one. I was gonna add more but wanted to get it up tonight really and I like it as it is, I didn't want to add any more. So enjoy!

'This is all my fault'

Kira was pacing up and down exasperatedly. 'I mean, if I hadn't beamed down, if I had just trusted you on your own, none of this would be happening. Julian would have been with Dax so she wouldn't have been alone, she wouldn't have disappeared, and Julian wouldn't have run off trying to find her'. She flopped down next to Sisko at the base of the tree. 'Major', said Sisko, 'you can't blame this all on yourself. OK, you made one mistake; you wanted a part of the action. I shouldn't have let Dax go off by herself'. 'Also,' said O'Brien, walking over from where he'd been standing to crouch next to the others. 'Even if, as you two say, Dax _had _been with Julian, I wouldn't count on Julian for saving anything'. Kira chuckled quietly then leant back against the tree with a sigh. 'But,' continued O'Brien, 'something Julian can do, is getting himself out of bad situations'. Sisko nodded in agreement. 'I suppose we will just have to put our faith in him then. And officers; no running off'.

Garak stood up and walked towards Julian. 'We don't have to fight, Garak'. Garak laughed. 'Oh, but we do, Doctor!'. 'What has happened to you, Garak? Remember us having lunch together. There is no reason we need to-' Julian was cut off as Garak swung a punch at him and he quickly ducked. After this final attempt at a ceasefire, his genetically-enhanced fighting instincts kicked in. He swung his fists round into Garak's stomach, then quickly straightened up and brought his fists down onto what was going to be the back of his head, but by the time he got there it was empty space. Garak had twisted around to the side and took another swing at Julian. He only just had time to stagger backwards. As he regained his balance, Garak went for another punch which this time hit it's mark. He delivered two punches to Julian's face then one to his stomach. Julian took a swing but missed by miles and Garak stabbed his elbow into Julian's back. He fell to his knees in pain. 'Get up!' hissed Garak. Julian stayed on the ground, panting. After a few seconds Garak rolled his eyes and groaned in frustration. He grabbed the front of Julian's uniform and pulled his up so his feet were no longer touching the ground. Julian struggled as he stared at Garak in disbelievement, eyes wide.

'You're not Garak' he whispered.

'Ah…' he chuckled. 'Clever Doctor. I suppose… I'm not'


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Star Trek, I'm just having a lot of fun with it J

Brace for quite a long pre-ramble: Firstly just to say I have a lot of time on my hands the next few days so I'll probably get up a bunch of chapters. Also, I'm having a lot of fun with Julian whump so bear with (if you're not a fan of whump you can probably skip down to the asterisks). Also, because I'm a fail at descriptive writing, I'm gonna say that the landscape they're in is basically the planet in the TOS episode Shore Leave. So where Garak and Bashir are fighting is where Kirk and Finnegan were fighting. I was having a hard time describing it so felt the need to say so :/ Hope that helps the story. Also the techy stuff O'Brien says; I have no idea if it's accurate or anything, it just sounded cool to me J

Julian stopped struggling in disbelievement. Who he had, until a moment ago, thought was Garak continued to hold him above the ground. After a second, his brain kicked in. He delivered a kick to Garak's knee who, not expecting it, let out a short cry of pain and dropped him. Julian landed on his feet and punched him hard in the face. He swung for another but Garak caught his hand. 'You see, doctor,' he shouted, still holding onto Julian's hand. 'I'm better than your Garak. Faster, stronger…' He smiled. 'And I can certainly hurt you much more easily'. Garak pushed Julian away with a snarl and he staggered backwards. Garak moved towards him and Julian kept moving backwards, trying to get away. Suddenly, Garak stopped. 'You've run out of space, Doctor' he taunted with a knowing smile. Julian frowned and took another step back only to find air. He quickly brought him foot back, trying to keep his balance, but Garak lunged forwards with a growl and pushed him off the edge of the ledge. Julian yelped and fell down the 6 foot drop landing painfully with a thump then continuing rolling down the rough side of the rock they had been on. Eventually he came to a stop against a protruding rock and lay in a limp heap. His uniform was torn to pieces and he was bruised and cut all over. Through his foggy thoughts, he vaguely heard Garak laughing. He looked up through blurred vision and saw Garak approaching. He let his aching head fall back to the floor, trying to avoid Garak's attention. However Garak pulled him up by what was left of his collar and smashed him back against the rock, pinning him there. Julian cried out in pain and weakly shook his head, trying to clear his vision, desperately trying to keep his eyes open. 'Look at you, Doctor' he said with scorn. 'You should have run while you could. You're no match for me!' Garak pulled Julian closer towards him. 'I'll bet it's only because of your mutant enhancements that you're even still conscious' he whispered into Julian's face. Julian tried to speak, but the pain became too much for him, enhancements or not. With a groaned, his hazel eyes rolled up then closed and he went limp in Garak's hand. 'Ah…' sighed Garak with a grin. 'It seems I spoke too soon'. With that Garak laughed and dropped Julian's limp form back to the dusty ground.

Back at the tree, the officers had fallen asleep, backs leaning against the tree. Suddenly they all jumped awake as thunder rumbled through the trees. Kira groaned 'Not this again'. 'It could be worse…' started O'Brien. Kira held up a hand 'Don't! Remember what happened last time I said that. Just don't start-' Kira stopped suddenly, frowning. 'Hey'. She stood up. Do you hear that?'. O'Brien who had been staring at Kira, confused, rolled his eyes. 'Not this again. Major don't you go running off now! WE can't hear anything! There's nothing there' 'Exactly!' said Kira with a smile. 'It's stopped raining!' The other officers gave a sigh of relief and stood up. 'Well we better start-' 'Ow!' said O'Brien, reaching to the tricorder on his belt and throwing it to the ground. The officers stared at it as it lay on the grass sparking. 'What the hell?!' said O'Brien, kneeling down next to it. After a minute it stopped sparking and O'Brien carefully pulled the back off. 'What was that?' asked Kira. 'Well,' said O'Brien triumphantly, standing up. 'It seems we've found our dampening field! Wherever it's coming from, there must be a problem because we're standing in a rift in the field' Benjamin smiled and Kira gave a whoop. The Chief continued, 'It's not big enough to transport or operate a tricorder, but it's something.' 'Is there any way to track it back to the source?' asked Sisko. 'I guess' O'Brien snapped the tricorder shut and stood up. 'Trial and error. Wherever it sparks, that's the rift. After we've found a line, we just follow it'. Sisko gestured around. 'Lead the way, Chief'. With that O'Brien started swinging the tricorder around, waiting for sparks.


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek or make any money from it hur-de-dur-de-dur

OK I've just gone through and realised that when I've put *** to mark a change of scene, it's somehow been deleted. Sorry about that I'll start putting XXX instead and hope it doesn't delete those. Also I said I'd get a bunch of chapters up this week. Sorry I haven't done that but I've been having a problem with my internet :/

After a while, the tricorder sparks began showing up a pattern and the remaining away team were now following the rift towards the mountains. Every few minutes they would stop so the Chief could take out the tricorder to see if they were still on track. 'Where do you think it's coming from?' wondered Kira out loud. 'Probably a cave hidden in the mountainside.' Suggested Sisko. 'It must be pretty well hidden if a full Starship survey team couldn't find it.' Suddenly a thought struck Kira. 'Hold on, Benjamin, surely if the Xanthe's team had beamed down to this planet they would've found they had the same problem as us.' Sisko frowned. 'You're right. If the dampening field _had _been here, then they would still be stuck here like us.' 'Unless they managed to disable it, which they can't have otherwise we wouldn't be stuck here.' pointed out O'Brien, taking out the tricorder and swinging it around again. 'Well maybe they only temporarily disabled it' suggested Kira. Sisko shook his head. 'It would've been in the reports if they'd found a dampening field, which means that either this dampening field has arrived in the last few months or someone deliberately turned it off when the Xanthe was here.' The tricorder sparked and they adjusted their course slightly before carrying on walking. 'Either way, we are not alone on this planet.'

XXXXX

'They've found the rift. They're heading this way'

'How did they find it?'

'Their engineer seems to be more competent than we first thought'

Dax heard a jumble of conversation as she slowly came round. She was soaking wet and the side of her head was aching where she had been hit with the phaser. She was slumped uncomfortably against a rock wall and desperately wanted to move but learnt from her last experience and stayed limp, keeping her eyes shut.

'Can you reposition the rift?'

'Not with the field in the state that it's in! You were the one who said we needed an expert!'

The voices sounded reasonably far away so Dax risked opening her eyes. She was in a large cave from which she could see the trees where they had beamed down to. Looking around she saw three men dressed in black huddled around a large machine, facing away from her. At this she suddenly remembered how she got here. She had been walking through the trees looking for any sign of what was causing the tricorder and transporter malfunctions when she saw Julian a little way away. She had started walking towards him when he had pulled out a phaser and pointed it at her. She knew the phaser wouldn't work so kept walking. She called out to him, telling him it was only her when suddenly someone grabbed her from behind. She pulled away and twisted round to see three cloaked figured standing there. As the figures advanced, she had screamed for Julian but he just stood there, smiling. She tried to fight but she was outnumbered.

'She's awake!'

Dax was snapped out of her thoughts as one of the men walked over so her. She quickly pushed herself up to a sitting position. She glanced around towards the mouth of the cave, wondering if she could make it to the exit before they did.

'Don't even think about it' warned another of the men, pointing a phaser at her. Dax gave him an icy stare. 'You know as well as me that won't work' she said. She opened her mouth to say more when the man stepped forwards and fired a shot at the rock just above Dax's head. She cried out in surprise and covered her head as sparks and bits of rock fell down around her.

'Vedek!' shouted one of the men. At this the man broke off the shot. Dax coughed through the dust as the man lowered the setting on his phaser and pointed it directly at Dax. She held up her hands. 'OK you've made your point!' She stayed still for a moment. When the man didn't make another move, she spoke again. 'Why have you brought me here?'. 'I am the caretaker' stated one of the men, ignoring her question. 'This is Vulcan and this is Vedek.' As all of the men were human, Dax assumed these were titles to cover their true identities. 'We control the dampening field that is preventing your instruments from functioning. However it is now damaged and we don't have to skills to repair it. You will do this, or we will kill your friends'


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek. Yup. Running out of ways to make that interesting.

Hey guys thanks for still reading, hope you're enjoying. Sorry it's been so long, I've had a bit of a… weird week. Plus I've got an English assessment coming up so have been writing that. Also I've had a bit of trouble writing this chapter because it got to the point where I felt I needed to make an effort with some actual, good, speech-type writing. I tried. One last thing, this chapter's pretty long and ends a bit weirdly but I couldn't really find a better ending place unless I carried on for ageeeessss. So yeah. Excuses. Waddle on!

Dax tried to hide the muddle of thought streaming through her head. 'Why do you even need the field? We're not trying to harm you' 'The technology we have here is too valuable to risk.' Dax sighed frustratedly. 'Well if you want me to fix it I'm gonna need some more details.' The caretaker stared at her for a moment and Dax wondered if she'd pushed it too far. However, after a moment he gestured over to the machine. 'Get up'. Dax rose to her feet and walked over to the machine with the caretaker following her. She looked across the machine. It was a strange mixture of alien technologies with several screens and an antenna in top that crackled blue sparks. A reading was flashing in one corner of a panel. 'This technology is a one of a kind – it covers the whole planet and has the ability to read people's thought and re-create whatever they're thinking of. An object, an animal…' '…Or a person' finished Dax, putting it together. 'That wasn't Julian I saw when you kidnapped me. It was just a distraction'. 'It was necessary.' He said coldly, still training the phaser on her. 'We doubted you would come willingly.' Dax turned away from the console towards him. 'If I don't fix it, how could you kill my friends? Weapons won't function in your dampening field, and more importantly you don't even know where they are! And you must know that I don't know either.' At this, the caretaker smiled and reached over across the machine. He flicked on a screen which flickered with static. He pressed a few more buttons and the screen flashed then came up with Sisko, Kira and O'Brien walking along, swinging the tricorder. 'You see, Commander,' said the caretaker as Dax stared at the screen, 'With technology like this, we don't need weapons. The mind is the most powerful weapon that any man could dream of because it is what contains those dreams! This device doesn't just recreate whatever petty thing you want to play with; it can manipulate thought against their thinker! Whatever thought a person thinks be instantly replicated to help or destroy them.' He leaned closer towards her. 'If I looked into your mind right now I could kill you and your friends. I could destroy this planet with the touch of a button. Any man could conquer the galaxy without lifting a finger. All you need to do is dream'. He stood back triumphantly. Dax looked from the screen to him then looked back across the console. She tried to process how it worked but it was such a jumble of different eras and technologies it was impossible to tell how it worked. She could only compare it to Quark's holosuites where Rom had patched them up with bits and bobs of everything, impossible to understand by anyone but him. As she thought about it, this stuck Dax as odd. Surely a machine wouldn't naturally be such a jumble. Only after endless patching-ups and modifications could it look like this. She turned to the caretaker and folded her arms. 'You stole it' she said. It was a statement rather than a question. 'That's why you need me to fix it; you can't figure it out. If you had created this, if you really knew how to use this, you would know how to fix it for sure. And you certainly wouldn't still be on this unknown little planet; you would be out selling your thought-stealing machine to some greater power'. The caretaker looked furious for a second. Before he could say anything however, the sound of Miles yelling came from the screen. They looked back to see him stamping on the grass, putting out a small fire than had started from the sparks. The caretaker watched for a moment then sighed and reached to switch off the screen when Dax frowned suddenly and her eyes widened. 'Where's Julian?' she asked. She had a feeling of dread in the bottom of her stomach. The caretaker chuckled. Dax turned so she was facing him. 'What have you done to him?' she said trying to keep the panic out of her voice. He kept smiling for a moment then reached over and pressed some buttons. As he did, the next screen crackled into life. After a moment the static faded and showed Julian's unconscious form lying on the ground next to where Garak sat on a rock, looking around. Dax gasped and put her hand to her mouth. 'He's alive' said the caretaker drily. 'Just a small demonstration of this device. We didn't count on his enhanced hearing being able to hear the high frequencies of the damaged dampening field. Once he'd started running over here, we had to… eliminate that threat.' Dax turned to him furiously. 'If that machine really worked as well as you think, you would've been able to tell Julian is not a threat! He was just trying to help me!' The caretaker leaned forwards on edge of the console. 'That is exactly the reason we had to deal with him – if he had found you here there is no telling what he might do.' Dax stared back at the screen for a moment. She could see from the state of his uniform and the blood-stained ground by his foot that he would be in pain when he woke up. He must have lost quite a lot of blood from his foot. 'He needs medical attention' said Dax. 'That is not our concern' replied the caretaker. 'Repair the machine or we will kill him' Dax looked at the machine for a moment, thinking. She needed some leverage. Something to put her in a position of power. She noticed the antennas on top of the machine. Blue energy crackled between them like in the warp core of the Defiant. Suddenly she grabbed her combadge and threw it towards the antennas on the top of the machine. Before the men could react, the combadge touched the stream of blue energy. The stream exploded a shower of sparks everywhere and the line of energy flickered. The screens turned back into static and a warning beeping started. The frazzled combadge fell to the floor but the energy continued to flicker and smoke. The three men were all instantly there with their phasers pointed at Dax. 'Fix it!' screamed the caretaker. 'Or what?' shouted back Dax. 'You'll kill me? I don't think so. You need me. And I doubt any of you would be willing to go near that machine to try and do anything to my friends.' She pointed to the flickering energy. 'If I know anything about that machine it's that that energy that's feeding it looks like some form of compressed antimatter. If you want this machine to work again anytime soon, give me a med kit and let me treat Julian.'


	10. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I am sure not the owner of Star Trek or any of their character people y'hear?

Just so y'all knooow, I know bits of it are confuzzling but I promise, by the end all will be revealed… (Ooh mystery) Alsooo rereading this chapter I feel I've been really mean to the good guys and this sounds really mean but it's kinda for convenience's sake because I wouldn't know what to write in the gap. That won't make sense before you've read the chapter so go. Read. Now.

They all stood motionless for a moment before another shower of sparks made them duck. Once the sparks stopped, the three men looked at each other for a moment then the caretaker sighed and lowered him phaser. 'Get the machine working again then I will contact your Doctor's Cardassian friend and tell him to bring him here.' 'I'll need some tools' said Dax. 'Vedek' said the caretaker, not taking his eyes or his phaser off her. Vedek nodded and walked further into the cave, coming back a minute later with a tool kit. Dax took the toolkit and knelt down on the floor. She opened it up and examined the tools. 'I can see why you kidnapped me,' she said flicking the flux coupler on and off. 'You have no idea about engineering – these haven't been used in ages. They're in a bad condition.' The caretaker pressed his phaser into her back. 'The machine, Commander, I've had enough of your nonsense' he hissed. Dax stood up and carried the tools over to the machine, avoiding the occasional showers of sparks the machine was giving off. She got to work and within 45 minutes the antennas had antimatter crackling between them again and the pictures were flickering on and off the screens. 'There' said Dax, triumphantly closing the toolkit. 'I've held up my end of the bargain now you hold up yours' 'Repair the dampening field as well' snapped the caretaker. 'Not until I see Julian' replied Dax defensively. The three men looked at each other for a moment and Dax thought they were going to go back on their agreement until they gave a nod. The caretaker walked over to the console and pressed a few buttons. He picked up a portable microphone that was hanging on a hook on the side of the machine and put it on. 'Garak?' he said into the microphone. 'Do you read?' Loud white noise came out of the machine. He frowned and turned a dial. Slowly the white noise went down and Garak's voice came out. 'Yes caretaker?' Dax was surprised at the likeness of the fake Garak's voice to the real Garak. If she didn't know what was going on she would've thought it was him. _Julian did_ she thought to herself. The caretaker smiled. 'Yes Garak, I have some instructions for you. We've got a slight change of plan,' 'Caretaker, what shall we do with her?' asked Vulcan, gesturing towards Dax. 'Take her away' he said dismissively. 'She can't be trusted around here to plot while she's waiting for her precious Doctor.' Before Dax could react, Vedek grabbed her by the elbow. She instinctively pulled away but he backhanded her sending her sprawling to the floor. The caretaker sighed and broke off his conversation. He grabbed a phaser from Vulcan and started adjusting the beam level. 'Well if you're going to be like that, Commander…' he said, smiling as he aimed the phaser. Dax started to get up but was immediately sent back to the floor by the stun beam. The caretaker dropped the phaser and went back to machine as Vedek and Vulcan hauled Dax to the back of the cave. He turned a dial and the image of Garak and Julian came back on the screen. He could see Julian was blearily starting to come round, trying to push himself up. 'Yes the Commander had to be subdued. Now bring the Doctor here on the double – if he's not here when she wakes up, all hell will break loose. And, Garak…' he looked back at the screen. 'We don't want any chance of him remembering the way here'. 'I understand.' Garak replied. The caretaker watched as Garak wheeled round, his boot making contact with Julian's temple. He went sprawling and landed limp a few metres away. 'I'll be there soon' said Garak before breaking contact. He walked over to where Julian lay and threw him over his shoulder before the picture broke up.


	11. Chapter 11

I know I was mean to them in the last chapter. It definitely wasn't one of my best sorreeeee! This chapter, I've just realised is kinda reminiscent of The Arsenal of Freedom (TNG Season 1 episode where Picard and Beverly fall down a hole while Riker and Yar are nearly getting shot to bits). Not deliberate but I like that episode so hope you'll like this chapter! Should wrap it all up within a few more chapters (ooh anticipation)

Dax had thought the headache she had last time she woke was bad, but this time it was even worse. She groaned and rolled over onto her stomach. 'Three times in a day…' she mumbled to herself. 'That's a new record'. She pushed herself up and looked around. In the dim light she could tell she was in a smaller cavern, presumably at the back of the larger cave she had been in. She started shuffling around, trying to find an exit, when she heard a groan from the other side of the cavern. She turned around and saw someone laying a little way away. 'Julian!' she gasped. She ran over and knelt down next to him. 'Julian?' she whispered, tapping him on the cheek. He groaned softly but didn't wake up. Dax sighed in relief. At least he was alive. She sat back and looked at him. His uniform was ripped all over and one sleeve was completely missing from the elbow down. He had a gash on the side of his face and his foot was bleeding, the bottom of his trouser leg was covered in it. He must've lost a lot of blood from it. Dax looked around the cavern to see if there was anything she could use. She saw a small medkit in the corner and picked it up. _I guess the caretaker held up the agreement after all _Dax thought to herself. She opened it up. There wasn't much in there – a tricorder, reader tube, hyposprays; one of cordrazine – useless with Julian in this state – and two others she didn't recognise, and a small dermal regenerator. She opened up the tricorder and pointed it towards Julian but it flickered on and off. _Their dampening field must be getting worse_. Dax smiled to herself. She put the tricorder on the ground and set it to complete a scan. As it started she ripped off one of her sleeves and started wrapping it around Julian's injured foot. She picked up the dermal regenerator but that was more badly affected than the tricorder. She tried to fix up his foot but the flickering regenerator just seemed to make it worse. She threw it down in frustration and finished bandaging. After a minute, Julian began to stir. Dax shuffled up and leant over him. 'Julian?' she said. He opened his eyes and they slowly came into focus. 'Jadzia?' he croaked. 'It's me' she said, leaning over to the tricorder and picking it up. He slowly pushed himself up to lean again the cave wall. 'Where are we?' he asked. 'We're in a cave in the mountains' answered Jadzia. 'Three men kidnapped me and brought me here. They have some kind of device that they want me to fix it.' 'So how did I…?' Julian frowned then remembered what happened. 'Garak' he said bitterly. 'Not our Garak. Their device can read thoughts and bring them alive, good and bad. You must've been thinking about Garak before he appeared.' 'I suppose' sighed Julian. The tricorder beeped and Dax examined the screen. 'What's the diagnosis, Doc?' asked Julian. 'Two broken ribs, concussion and you've lost a lot of blood from your foot and the gash on your face much sting like Hell. But no internal injuries and your pulse is pretty stable. Just stay awake and you'll be fine once we get back to the Defiant.' _If we get back to the Defiant_ thought Dax, but she pushed the thought out of her head. Julian sighed. 'It could be worse.' He noticed the cut on her face. 'What about you?' he asked. 'I'm fine' she said shutting the tricorder but Julian took it from her and opened it up. 'You've got mild concussion' he said looking concerned. 'Julian,' she said, firmly, taking the tricorder back. 'I feel fine.' 'Completely?' pressed Julian. Dax sighed. Julian was always persistent. 'OK, maybe a little dizzy, but right now you should be worrying about yourself'. Dax put the tricorder back in the medkit. 'Where'd you get the medkit?' asked Julian. Dax briefly explained what had happened since she'd woken up in the cave. 'There isn't much in here. The dermal regenerator works on and off and I don't recognize the hyposprays.' 'Let me see them'. Dax picked up the hyposprays and gave them to him. He looked at them one by one. 'Cordrazine, adrenaline and kayolane' Julian frowned. 'Certainly not a standard medical kit. Their machine must be malfunctioning.' Just then they heard footsteps in the distance. Dax put everything back in the medkit and gave it to Julian. 'In case the dermal regenerator starts working' she said. Julian took the kit and held onto Dax's hand. 'Try not to get yourself shot again, Jadzia' he whispered. She chuckled. 'I will. As long as you stay awake.' Before he could answer, Vedek appeared round the corner, aiming a phaser at Dax. He nodded to Julian. 'Doctor.' Julian gave him an icy stare. 'Commander, come with me.' 'I'll figure a way out of this, Julian' she whispered, giving his hand a squeeze before standing up and walking out the way Vedek had come with him following her closely.


	12. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I'm not making money off Star Trek and don't intent to blahblahblahblahblah yeah

Last few chapters ooooooooooooooooo I'm excited (I'm easily excited). Not a lot happens in this chapter, it's more of a lead up. Read-y read-y read!

Dax was lead over to the machine where the caretaker was standing. 'Welcome back, Commander' he said coldly. She ignored him and stared at the antimatter flickering on top of the machine. What had been a neat line between the two antennas was now sparking out in all different directions as if it was unravelling. The caretaker noticed her staring and looked up with her. 'Yes, obviously your repair work was unsatisfactory. You will restart repairs immediately.' As Dax stared at the blue energy, she started to wonder just how much energy this thing used. From the sun coming into the cave, she guessed she had been there a few hours during which it had recreated two people, one for a quite substantial amount of time. It was only as Dax thought of this did she realise the caretaker was right. In the wrong hands, this machine could conquer the universe and these men obviously were not the right hands. _I'll figure a way out of this_ she had said to Julian and she started to realise just how hard that would be. Vulcan appeared next to her and held out a toolkit. Dax took it and walked over to the machine. She started repairing the antimatter to try and buy some time but quickly patched it up as best she could. Vedek, who was still standing next to her with a phaser, told her to start repairing the dampening field. She started fiddling with the buttons, trying to work out how the machine worked. It was really quite clever – each console could link on to each person's brainwaves and you could literally scroll through each person's thought and recreate them. If she could just have a few minutes distraction, she could use it to send a message to the away team. She needed to talk to Julian and check he was OK. As she worked, the heat in the cave grew and her dizziness got worse. At once point the room started spinning dangerously and she sat down for a minute. Vedek stepped over and pulled her up. 'Continue the repairs' he hissed. 'If I carry on in this heat I'll pass out' she hissed back. He hesitated before releasing her. 'You may rest for one minute' he said. As she leant against the controls, panting, she had an idea. It would be tricky but she had to talk to Julian. After a minute she started working again, slowly counting to 500 in her head. When she reached 500 she started panting loudly and slowed her working. She started counting another 100 but was getting dangerously dizzy at 60 and almost fainted for real. But somehow she made it to 100 and dropped the tool she was holding then slid down the console onto the floor. Vedek came over and tried to pull her up but she stayed limp, eyed closed, trying to slow her breathing. She heard footsteps coming over, then the two other men's voices. 'What happened?' 'She fainted.' 'Get her some water' 'The dampening field is interfering with our replicator.' The caretaker groaned with frustration. 'Take her back to the cavern and let her recover for 15 minutes, no longer.' With that Dax felt an arm under her legs and back and she was lifted up. She let her head fall to the side so she could open her eyes a crack. She was carried through a rocky passageway and the temperature lowered marginally. After a minute they rounded a corner and she saw Julian lying, eyes closed, against the wall. To her relief, as they entered the room and Julian's eyes fluttered opened and he raised him head. 'Jadzia!' he gasped as she was carried in and lowered to the ground. 'What did she do this time?' he asked icily but the man ignored him and left the cavern. Jadzia stayed still for a moment to make sure he was gone before pushing herself and sitting back on her heels in front an astonished Julian. 'You must be either a good actress or a really quick healer' he chuckled quietly after a minute. 'It would surprise you how easily a little hyperventilation can fool a guy. Or three' she smiled back. 'Dangerous. It hot enough back here, it must be boiling out there. I'm surprised you didn't pass out for real' he said with concern. 'I almost did' she whispered back, shuffling over to lean next to him. 'But I needed to talk to you. I've got a plan…'


	13. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek and yeah

Oooohhhh getting to the end! Long, slightly confusing chapter (partly the plot, partly my bad writing) but I hope it's dramatic! What will happen...? (Ooh intrigue)

Before they knew it, footsteps started approaching. Dax quickly ruffled her hair and unzipped the neck of her uniform. 'Remember' she whispered to Julian. 'Only use the cordrazine if two of them show up; go for the kayolane first.' 'I know, I will. I can handle it. Just stick to the plan and don't come back. Even if-' Julian stopped abruptly as Vulcan came round the corner and Jadzia stood up. Neither of them spoke, she was just taken back to the machine again and handed the toolkit. She looked at the screen, the away team were walking up the mountains but they looked confused. The tricorder wasn't working any more. They needed something definite to guide them. She started fiddling around with wires under the console, trying to look like she was doing something useful. She shuffled herself a little further under so she was out of sight to Vulcan and took out the reader tube, prising off one of the buttons off to expose the wiring. She looked around for something flammable but couldn't see anything. Sighing to herself, she tore off a chunk of her hair and stuffed it into the tiny gap. Perfect. She pulled down a handful of wires and started touching them together, trying to get a spark. Once she found two that made a good spark, she rolled herself over and looked around the machine looking for a viable target. She spotted a few crates sitting a little way away, within throwing distance. They would be up in flames in seconds. She put her head back under the console and rolled down her one remaining sleeve. Holding the reader tube in her palm, she held the two wires onto the fabric, touching each other. It took a moment, but a spark appeared on the material which then burst into a flame. Dax stood up quickly with a yell, trying to get the attention of the three men. She flapped at the material and tore it off with the hand concealing the reader tube. She smelt the distinctive smell of burning hair and quickly threw both the torn-off sleeve and tube towards the crates. The flaming fabric rolled towards the crates and suddenly started spitting sparks everywhere as the reader tube circuits were frizzled. Dax waited with baited breath until a shower of sparks flew off straight onto the crates and they burst into flames. The three men, who had been focused on Dax after her outburst started panicking. Vedek and the caretaker ran to the crates and started trying to put the flames out, while Vulcan stayed next to Dax, unsure whether he should stay or go. However his mind was soon made up as, right on cue thanks to his genetically enhanced hearing, Julian gave a yell from the cavern. 'Vulcan!' roared the caretaker, as he stamped on the flames and Vulcan ran off towards the back of the cave. Dax whooped inwardly and ran over to the console. Even though it was damaged, she soon focused on the brainwaves of Kira, Benjamin and O'Brien and started scrolling through. They were all intently focused on finding her so that bit wouldn't be hard. Now she needed something mobile, a vehicle or animal, something that could lead them here. She immediately ruled out the Chief because his thoughts were changing so quickly. She started scrolling through the other's thoughts.

Xxx

Julian heard the men yelling and smiled to himself. Jadzia had a natural instinct for mischief. He waited a moment then filled his lungs and yelled. He immediately heard running footsteps. He yelled once more to make sure and then grabbed the kayolane and lay back, eyes closed. He heard someone run into the cavern and then stop, confused. He stayed still as the man walked closer. There was the sound of fabric on rock as he bent down to take Julian's pulse. As he leant closer, Julian slowly lifted his hand behind the man's back, coming closer to his neck.

Xxx

Dax noticed an on-going dread of hara cats in the forest running through Kira's mind but it was too vague to focus on. She looked up quickly. The flames were going out. She was running out of time. Then she saw it. Sisko thinking, loud and clear, '_Down the rabbit hole…_'. Dax smacked the console in triumph. A rabbit.

Xxx

Suddenly the man grabbed Julian's wrist, revealing the hypospray he was holding. Julian stared at him in shock and pushed against him, trying to get the hypospray towards him with force but his hand was easily pushed away. The man smiled and said 'There's a reason I get called 'Vulcan' you know'. With that, Vulcan twisted Julian's wrist, hard. Julian screamed in pain as the joint popped out of place and he dropped the hypospray. Vulcan quickly grabbed it and threw it across the cavern. Julian made a lunge for the other hypospray but Vulcan backhanded him hard across the face, knocking him out cold. Vulcan stood up and laughed out loud, picking up the discarded hypospray as he left the cavern.

Xxx

Just as Dax had focused the two thoughts and merged them together, she heard the scream. Her head snapped up. She could tell this time it was real – Julian was not a screamer. She almost went running back when she remembered what he had said. _Don't come back_. She had to alert Benjamin. With a great force of will, she went back to the console and just as the caretaker appeared next to her, the rabbit appeared next to Benjamin on the screen. She quickly reached her hand under the console and ripped out a handful of wires, shorting out the screens before turning to face the caretaker, hoping the message would work before they got round to killing her.


	14. Chapter 14

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek or profit from it or mleh.

OK the next chapter will be the last chapter. I'm sad :( Soooo to remedy my sadness I will be writing another piece of (almost certainly) Star Trek fanfiction as soon as I finish this. Soooo if anyone reading this has any ideas/requests/whatever; please leave dem in da comments. I would appreciate it! (I can do TOS, TNG or DS9, haven't seen any ENT or VOY sorry) Thanks so much for reading! Xxx

'Benjamin, look!' Kira pointed to a small white rabbit that had suddenly materialised a few metres away from them. All three officers turned to stare at it for a moment. It sat, facing them, ears twitching then suddenly bounded off up the rocky landscape. After a moment it stopped and turned its head back, waiting expectantly. 'I think it wants us to follow it' said O'Brien in disbelief. Kira laughed out loud. 'Stranger things have happened today' muttered Benjamin before walking after it.

Xxx

As Dax turned back to the caretaker her brain was working overtime at another plan. His face was full of pure, concentrated fury. 'How did those crates catch fire?' Dax asked slightly ironically, still hoping maybe he had fallen for it. He gave a yell of rage and punched her hard in the stomach. She fell to her knees and doubled over in pain. The symbiont squirmed in protest inside her. _I guess he didn't fall for it_. Just then, Vulcan sauntered over from the back of the cave. 'What was wrong with Julian?' Dax gasped out. Vulcan sneered down at her. 'Nothing' he said, taking out the hypospray and twirling it in his hands. 'But I can assure you I remedied that.' He threw the hypospray against the wall and it cracked open. 'Get me a phaser' commanded the caretaker. 'With pleasure' said Vulcan and strode over the back of the cave. He returned a moment later and handed a phaser to the caretaker. Dax heard the noise of the level going up and the caretaker put the phaser to her head. 'Unluckily for you, Commander,' he spat out. 'Your services are no longer required.'

'I don't think you want to do that'

Dax span around to the mouth of the cave and sighed in relief as Benjamin, Kira and Miles walked into the cave, all three holding phasers. 'Drop the phaser' said Sisko menacingly. Miles walked over the Vulcan and held the phaser on him while the others stayed aiming at the caretaker. Vulcan dropped his but the caretaker stayed still. 'He said drop it' repeated Kira. 'If I'm not mistaken, the beam from my phaser will easily reach my target before yours, so I have no reason to drop my weapon. I would suggest you drop yours.' Dax stared at Benjamin, the phaser still against her head. He looked down at her. She mouthed _shoot him_ at him but no-one moved. 'Benjami-' 'Don't speak' the caretaker cut her off. Everyone was silent again. Dax inwardly screamed with frustration. Someone had to do something. She remembered Vulcan's comment; _I can assure you I remedied that_. Julian could be dead back there for all she knew. Then she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Vedek. The others had only seen Vulcan and the caretaker, they didn't know there was another. He was creeping along the wall holding a phaser. She stared at the other officers one by one, trying to catch their attention but they weren't looking. She flicked her eyes back to the wall of the cave and saw him start to aim. She had to risk doing something. Suddenly Vedek jumped out from his hiding place behind the machine and shot at Kira but hit the floor instead. Several things happened at once. Kira shot back towards the spot where the beam had come from and Vulcan lunged for his phaser but Miles blocked the way. Behind her, the caretaker froze for a moment before he pressed the button and that was all she needed. She lunged to the side and rolled away, kicking the phaser into the air as she did so. Before Vedek could fire, she pushed herself up from the floor and jumped, catching the phaser. Things seemed to go in slow motion for Jadzia. Vedek lined up for another shot and she decided what she had to do. The caretaker dived towards her reaching for the phaser but she jumped away and time sped back up. In one fluid movement, she span round and aimed then fired straight at the centre of the machine. The beam hit the console and a giant shower of sparks went everywhere. The antimatter started flying off in every direction and black smoke came from the panels, filling the cave. The caretaker screamed 'NO!' Vedek took one look at the machine and pressed a button on his wrist, immediately dematerialising. 'Dax!' shouted Benjamin. The three other officers ran over to her, Miles holding onto Vulcan's arm. 'That machine's gonna blow any minute and it'll take out the whole cave!' shouted Dax over the explosions and coughing officers. 'Take them and beam up! The dampening field will be gone!' Before they could protest, she started running into the smoky cave. Sisko grabbed the caretaker and pressed his combadge. 'Beam us up NOW, Defiant!' he shouted. 'She knows what she's doing' he said to Miles and Kira as they appeared in the Defiant's transporter room.

Xxx

Dax could barely see in front of her from all the smoke but eventually found the tunnel entrance. As she walked through there was less smoke and she sped up her pace. She vaguely remembered the route to the cavern where they had been and eventually rounded a corner to see Julian lying there. She tapped her combadge as she knelt next to him. 'Dax to Defiant. I'm here with Julian, beam us up.' She went to check his pulse but felt the joint out of place so switched to his neck. It was still there but not as strong as before. 'Defiant' she repeated into the combadge more urgently. Worf's voice crackled through. 'Jadzia we are having… difficult to get a lock… interference…' More rumblings came from the cave. 'Now would be a good time, Worf!' she yelled, holding onto Julian's good hand. Just then she heard a loud explosion and felt the wave of heat coming through the tunnel. She closed her eyes and leaned over just as she felt the familiar tingle of the transporter.


	15. Chapter 15

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek or any of their characters, tech, whatever; I just have a loooooot of fun messing with them :)

Final chapter. Thank you so much everyone who has read my story - I was basically writing for myself so it's great that other people have enjoyed it too. Extra thanks to GeorgieGinger who has reviewed pretty much every chapter without fail, always with high praise :) By the way sorry the last chapter is late (siiigh I'm so unorganised) but I've been having internet troubles and I'm really crappy at writing endings. I will be starting a new story soon, probably using Georgie's idea she left in the comments (my brain is plotting (mwahaha)) so thank you everyone, hope you enjoyed and now go read :)

Julian ached all over as he woke up. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a couple of times as the smiling face of Jadzia Dax came into focus above him. 'Where are we?' he asked. 'We're back on the Defiant. I destroyed the machine and they beamed us up just in time' answered Jadzia. 'You've been unconscious a few hours, how do you feel?' 'Like I've been hit by a Garak.' He winced and shifted slightly. 'Repeatedly.' Dax chuckled. 'Your ribs are all patched up but you've still got a bit of concussion so don't go banging your head against any nearby walls' she smiled. 'So what did I miss down there?' Julian asked. Jadzia pulled up a nearby chair and sat down. 'Well although it went a bit awry, our plan worked. I managed to send a message to Benjamin and they turned up a few minutes later just in time to stop the caretaker from killing me.' 'The caretaker?' frowned Julian. 'A code name I'll explain in a minute. So I managed to get a phaser and destroy the machine. One of them managed to beam away, a long range transporter; we couldn't find a signature afterwards, and Benjamin, Kira and O'Brien beamed up with the other two who are in the brig. I came back and got you and we were beamed up. With the machine gone, we could contact Starfleet to say we wouldn't be taking shore leave and we were going to head back to Deep Space 9.' 'I think we're all relieved about that' said Julian. 'What did Starfleet make of it?' Dax sighed. 'Of course they want official reports from everybody so they can send another survey team to check the Xanthe's first reports but we told them what happened in brief. Then we realised the story seemed familiar.' 'Captain Kirk's mission. The amusement planet' finished Julian. Dax nodded. 'I suppose our caretaker must've taken the name from the leader of that planet when he took the machine.' 'Who knows what he would've done with it' wondered Julian. 'I'm just glad we're all safe' said Dax, holding Julian's hand. 'Me too' agreed Julian, giving her hand a squeeze. They sat in silence for a moment. 'I heard you came running after me' said Dax quietly 'When I was in trouble.' 'Well… you called for me. I would've done the same for any of the others.' 'Not twice. Against orders' pointed out Dax. 'I guess not' smiled Julian, almost shyly. Dax smiled back. 'Thanks for trying' she whispered. 'Sorry what it got you' she said, gesturing generally at him. 'It was worth it if it means you're safe. We're all safe.' They were silent again before Sisko's voice came through on Dax's combadge.

'Sisko to Dax.' She tapped it.

'Dax here'

'How's our doctor?'

'He's awake and recovering'

'I'm glad he's OK. We're nearing DS9; you're needed on the bridge'

'I'm on my way. Dax out.' Dax stood up and walked towards the door. She paused before leaving and walked over to a table, picking up a PADD. She gave it to Julian, smiling. 'You better get started on your report.' She called from the doorway. 'Sounds like you've gone further down the rabbit hole than the rest of us!' The doors slid shut behind her. Julian chuckled before picking up the PADD.

XxXxX


End file.
